


Birthdays Like Sand

by mismatched_ideas



Series: Starting Gun, Photo Finish [8]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Birthday, Day 8, Fluff, M/M, Road Trips, Selfies, Seungchuchu Week 2017, West Coast, beach
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-11-04 14:16:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10992630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mismatched_ideas/pseuds/mismatched_ideas
Summary: Birthdays are like sand in an hourglass. They mark the time with implied significance when really there is none unless you make it.And Seung-gil was going to make some significance.





	Birthdays Like Sand

Seung-gil was well aware that he was never the one to make the first move. Phichit, though, was the compete opposite. Maybe that was a product of their sports or maybe those was just their dispositions. Seung-gil was all slow calculation and Phichit was energetic motion.

Phichit had been the one to say hello. He was the first one to reach out and he was the first one to show vulnerability. He was the one to ask Seung-gil out and he was the first one to say I love you. It wasn't that Seung-gil didn't want to say or do these things, he just never found the confidence. He always got caught up waiting and thinking and planning.

That was why he tried not to plan as much for this. Just a trip down America's west coast, ending at Los Angeles with a birthday party planned by Leo, Guang Hong, and Yuuri.

Seung-gil marveled at all of Phichit's friends, all of their friends, and wondered how they'd all gotten as close as they had. There was a time when Phichit was Seung-gil's only friend, Yuuri was just Phichit's aloof roommate, Leo was a YouTuber who posted mostly song covers, and Guang Hong was a makeup tutorial YouTuber.

Seung-gil would never have made these friends without Phichit and even though at one point he would have said they were really more Phichit’s friends, my now he was comfortable claiming them as his own. Even his handful of friends from college were only his friends because Phichit had convinced him it would be worth his while to try and make friends. Phichit was the one who pushed him to go to the party where he met Sara and as much as he had found her annoying, she had become one of his most important friends.

When he was sixteen not only would he never have thought he’d have real friends but he wouldn't have admitted life was better with said friends. He also never would have believed it if someone said he would be dating Phichit in only a handful of years.

Without Phichit, Seung-gil couldn't even imagine where he'd be today.

Almost six years of dating and two college degrees were behind them. Phichit had worked hard in school and in tennis; getting his degree in only three years and becoming the first Thai to win an Olympic medal in tennis. He would sometimes try to say it was 'only bronze' but Seung-gil never let him say that without consequence. Usually the consequence was Seung-gil giving him a disbelieving look, one eyebrow raised and his mouth set in a thin line. Then he'd usually kiss him and whisper disagreements until he stopped trying to downplay his accomplishment.

But they were only 23, well now Phichit was 24, and they had time. The Tokyo Olympics were coming up fast and both of them barely had the time to take off for this trip. But Seung-gil insisted they go to visit Leo and Guang Hong for Phichit's birthday. Phichit caved easily because Seung-gil almost never insisted they do anything.

Now, Seung-gil was waiting nervously for Phichit to come out of the small bathroom next to one of the prettiest beaches on the west coast. Phichit had given him a look when Seung-gil insisted they stop here, Seung-gil was doing a lot of insisting these days, but when he saw the beach he stopped questioning and instead started taking pictures.

“Excuse me?” Seung-gil felt a tap on his shoulder and he turned, blinking at the two teenage girls smiling up at him. One looked like she was going to faint and the other was clutching her phone tightly to her chest, looking hopeful. “You're Seung-gil Lee, right?”

“Umm… yes?”

“Oh my god, it's actually him.” The other girl practically screeched, slapping the girl with the phone on the arm. “I told you.”

Seung-gil looked around for a moment, convinced this was some kind of prank, but found nobody suspicious.

“And you two are?”

“Just your biggest fans.” The first girl responded, “I'm Laurie and this is Allyson.”

“Biggest… fans?” He blinked at them and they giggled.

“My brother and I used to compete in archery.” Allyson explained, “Even after we stopped, we still watched events. A sixteen year old winning gold is pretty amazing.”

“Thank god Phichit puts up pictures and video of you.” Laurie was smiling, “Otherwise, we'd never see you!”

“Seung-gil, I was thinking-” Phichit walked out of the bathroom, stopping when he saw the two girls. “Look, Seung-gil, I told you you have fans.”

Seung-gil tried his best not to look uncomfortable, fans always made him uncomfortable even though they were few and far between. Or maybe because they were few and far between.

“Phichit.” Laurie squeaked out, again looking like she was going to faint. “I can't believe it.”

“You two want a picture with my boyfriend?” Phichit asked, smiling brightly. “I'm a pretty good photographer so it you just hand over your phone, I'll get you a good one.” He winked at Seung-gil. “Maybe I can even get him to smile.”

He didn't smile but Seung-gil could feel his cheeks burning. After all these years, Phichit still did a number on his insides.

“Can we also get a picture with you?” Laurie asked. “I'm a big fan of yours too.”

“How about I do one better.” Phichit pulled out his selfie-stick, “How about a picture of all four of us.”

“Phichit, you're going to kill them.” Seung-gil deadpanned, eliciting a laugh from Phichit.

“Hopefully not.” He started to set all four of them up, facing away from the beach to get a good background of the late afternoon water. “Smile, everyone.”

Seung-gil looked up at the camera, trying his best to muster a smile for the picture. But he hated how his smile looked in pictures and it instead came out as more of open mouthed surprise.

“Look, you two got an almost smile from Seung-gil.” Phichit smiled at Seung-gil, easygoing and fond. “He doesn't really smile in pictures so this is the best you'll get.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Laurie said as Phichit opened Instagram to post the picture, looking like she wanted to hug him. “This means so much.”

“Anytime. What're your Instagrams? I need to tag you.”

Both girls told him and Phichit followed each of them before stealing Seung-gil's phone - the girls swooned when Phichit easily unlocked it, seeming to think it was some show of closeness and not just that Phichit like to try to guess Seung-gil's password - and following them as well.

“I would have done it myself.” Seung-gil snatched his phone back.

“You took two years to follow me, sorry if I don't trust you.”

Seung-gil turned red, “That was different.”

Phichit laughed turning to chatter a little more to Laurie while Allyson stepped back over to Seung-gil. She didn't say much, just put her hand on his arm and nodded.

“Good luck.”

“Excuse me?”

But she'd already turned to say goodbye and thank you to Phichit, pulling her friend away saying something about her never leaving otherwise.

“What did she say to you?” Phichit asked when he saw Seung-gil's eyebrows were scrunched together.

“Good luck.”

“Probably for the Olympics.” Phichit shrugged, putting an arm around Seung-gil's waist. “Still want to go for a walk?”

“Of course.” Seung-gil said, both agreeing to his comment and confirming his question.

\---

“Hey, Phichit.” They'd sat down in the sand, deciding to wait for the sunset. Phichit was leaning heavily against Seung-gil, the warmth on his arm felt nice enough that he begrudged moving away. But he wanted to be able to look at him.

“Yah?” Phichit smiled, blinking at Seung-gil.

“Happy birthday.”

“Aww, thanks.” Phichit smiled, “I'm glad you convinced me to take a break. I wish we had time to take a break for your birthday.”

“Maybe next year.”

“Yah… next year.” Phichit smiled and turned to put his head back on Seung-gil's shoulder but Seung-gil moved away from him. He sat cross-legged, turning his body fully towards his uncertain looking boyfriend. “Is something wrong?”

“Before I give you your birthday gift, I want to tell you something.”

“Gift? You didn't have to get anything.”

“Of course I did.” Seung-gil felt a cold dread in the veins. He hoped his mini speech for Phichit would help him get his courage up. “Because I love you.”

“I love you too.” Phichit smiled, though he still looked unsure and a little confused.

“Phichit.” Seung-gil took a deep breath, finding it hard to look at Phichit as he spoke. “I told you once, before we starting dating, that talking to you was the only thing keeping me going. The truth is, I had no idea what I was doing with my life and I felt completely listless. I felt useless, like I was a disappointment.” Phichit looked like he wanted to interrupt but Seung-gil didn't give him the chance. He wanted to tell Phichit everything he'd never told him. He needed to tell him all of this. “I know I should have been able to listen when my family told me I was doing fine and that they were proud of me but… It never really sunk in when they said it. But when I talked to you, you always made me feel like I was worthwhile.” He took a breath, reaching out to grab a hold of Phichit's hand. “I don't know what would have happened to me if you weren't in my life but I probably wouldn't have- I wouldn't have been okay. But you were always there, sometimes with a smile but sometimes with a frown and with tears. But you were always there. You never gave up on me even when I'd given up on myself. I applied to Columbia because they had an archery team. I had the courage to apply to Columbia because I knew you believed in me.” Seung-gil wished his hands would stop shaking but the anxiety creeping through his body made it difficult. He'd thought this would give him confidence and it had, but now he'd hit the sweet spot. He needed to do this now before his anxiety killed the words in his throat. “Phichit, what I'm trying to say is that I love you and that I love every moment we've spent together. And… umm…” He cursed whatever god allowed him to lose the little eloquence he had at the moment he needed it the most. “Phichit, my gift is a selfish one.” With a shaky hand, the one not holding onto Phichit, he pulled out the box hidden in his pocket. “Phichit Chulanont, _wang-ja-nim_ , My Sunshine.” He couldn't get the box open, his hands were shaking too much, so instead he handed the box to Phichit. He forced himself to look at Phichit but his boyfriend wasn't looking at him, instead staring at the small box in his hands like he'd never seen a box before. “Will you, uhh, I want you to-” He took a deep breath, “Will you marry me?”

There was a heartbeat long pause before Phichit was throwing his arms around Seung-gil's neck. Seung-gil panicked a little when he felt tears on his shoulder.

“Phichit, are you-?”

“Yes!” Phichit pulled away, smiling through his tears. “Of course I want to marry you.” He pulled Seung-gil into a long kiss. When they broke apart, he laughed. “And here I was going to ask you on your birthday. I never thought you'd beat me to it.”

Seung-gil smiled, soft and relieved as his body worked the adrenaline out of his system. When he spoke, all the while playing with Phichit's fingers, it was quiet.

“You're always the one making the first move but I wanted to… I guess I wanted you to know how much I love you.”

“You didn't have to do this. I already knew you loved me.” Phichit nuzzled his face into Seung-gil's neck. “But I'm glad you did.”

“I hope you didn't already buy rings.”

“I didn't. Did you get a pair.” Seung-gil nodded and Phichit pulled away so he could open the box. Sure enough, inside were two matching rings. “Oh, you remembered what I said!”

He pulled out the two silver engagement rings. Phichit had said he didn't want gold rings because they always seemed too gaudy to him, even if he constantly fawned over his roommate's ring. Seung-gil had been carefully probing for more information for months now, laying out the plans so that he would have the perfect time and the perfect place.

With a smile on his face, Phichit slipped one of the rings onto Seung-gil's finger before handing Seung-gil the box with the other ring. Seung-gil was glad his hands were mostly done shaking, otherwise he didn't think he'd be able to put the ring on.

“I love you.” Phichit said, kissing Seung-gil.

“I love you too.” Another kiss.

“Look, the sun's about to set.” Phichit used one hand to point out towards the water, the other one slung around Seung-gil neck. “Want to take a picture?” He paused, phone in his free hand. “If you want to wait, that's fine.”

“I already told my family I was proposing so I have nobody who'd be angry to find out through Instagram.” He smiled at Phichit, “Don't you think your family would be upset to learn that way?”

“Forget about them.” Phichit pulled his phone out, turning them around to catch the sunset in the background while holding his hand up to catch the light. Seung-gil followed suit and Phichit snapped a few pictures. “I want to brag to everyone that I'm going to marry the best man in the whole world.”

“Weird, I didn't know you were marrying yourself.” Seung-gil smirked when Phichit turned red.

“You're a fiend.” He muttered, pick a filter before typing out a quick comment.

_phichit+chu: Best birthday gift ever on the best birthday from the best guy in the world #engaged #sohappy @seung-gillee_

“I love you.” Seung-gil said, leaning against Phichit and pretending they didn't need to get on the road soon. Leo and Guang Hong would be angry if they were late to the surprise party tonight, especially since Yuuri had flown in for it. Of course, they probably wouldn't be that angry once they saw the post that would explain their lateness.

“I love you too.” Phichit could say with certainty that he had never been as happy as he was right now. Blissfully unaware of the party that was tonight and not tomorrow, he decided he'd try to get Seung-gil to stay here all night.

But Seung-gil ignored their destination and Phichit ignored the notifications on his phone and they both stayed still against each other until their phones started ringing with questions and congratulations.

And they were, in a word, happy.

**Author's Note:**

> Speaking of semi-nonsense fic titles :P
> 
> I'm sad to see seungchuchu week go, I love these dorks so much and I've had so much time. I really need to finish my other big fic before I start anything new but there is a seungchuchu sci-fi au in the works but that won't be out for a while. I'll probs write something now and then for this series when I think of things but it won't be a priority :(
> 
> I do want to write more, though, because there is still some stuff I want to work through. The two main things are: I want Seung-gil to interact more with Phichit's sisters (and I want Mi-na to interact with Phichit) and, importantly, I want to better develop Seung-gil's own mentality. Like I know how he went from complete self-hate to loving himself through another person but I want to write it down. Unfortunately, these 7 parts alone can't really do that growth justice and it can feel a little sudden especially since most of Seung-gil's college years are skipped over. 
> 
> What I'm saying is, I want to write more for this series but I don't know when I'll have time. That said, I have a tendency of ignoring the projects I should be working on in favor of other things so we'll see...
> 
> \---
> 
> Thanks to everyone who read this week and especially thank you to those who commented, all of you mean the world to me. *kiss* (or should I say, *chu*?)


End file.
